The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939) | May 20, 11:00 am

This heartrending masterpiece by Kenji Mizoguchi about the give-and-take between life and art marked the first full realization of the hypnotic long takes and eloquent camera movements that would come to define the director’s films. Kikunosuke (Shotaro Hanayagi), the adopted son of a legendary kabuki actor who is striving to achieve stardom by mastering female roles, turns to his infant brother’s wet nurse for support and affection—and she soon gives up everything for her beloved’s creative glory. – The Criterion Collection

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi

Cast: Shotaro Hanayagi, Kokichi Takada, Gonjuro Kawarazaki

Country: Japan

Distributor: Janus Films

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 2 hours, 24 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Programming: Classic Cinema

Revenge (2018) | May 20, 12:00 am

Jen is enjoying a romantic getaway with her wealthy boyfriend, which is suddenly disrupted when his sleazy friends arrive for an unannounced hunting trip. Tension mounts until the situation abruptly––and viciously––intensifies, culminating in a shocking act that leaves Jen left for dead. Unfortunately for her assailants, Jen survives and reemerges with a relentless, wrathful intent: revenge. – Shudder

Director: Coralie Fargeat

Cast: Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, Guillaume Bouchède

Country: France, Belgium

Distributor: Shudder

Rating: R

Runtime: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Platform: Shudder

Special Programming: Midnight Movies

La Flor: Part 1 (2019) | May 19, 6:30 pm

A decade in the making, Mariano Llinás’s La Flor is an unrepeatable labor of love and madness that redefines the concept of binge viewing. The director himself shows up at the start to preview the six episodes that await, each starring the same four remarkable actresses: Elisa Carricajo, Valeria Correa, Pilar Gamboa, and Laura Paredes. Overflowing with nested subplots and whiplash digressions, La Flor shape-shifts from a B-movie to a musical to a spy thriller to a category-defying metafiction—all of them without endings—to a remake of a very well-known French classic and, finally, to an enigmatic period piece that lacks a beginning (granted, all notions of beginnings and endings become fuzzy after 14 hours). An adventure in scale and duration, La Flor is a wildly entertaining exploration of the possibilities of fiction that lands somewhere close to its outer limits. – Film Society of Lincoln Center

Director: Mariano Llinás

Cast: Elisa Carricajo, Valeria Correa, Pilar Gamboa, Laura Paredes

Country: Argentina

Distributor: Grasshopper Film

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 3 hours, 46 minutes

Platform: Video-On-Demand

Special Programming: Long-Form Cinema

Sworn Virgin (2015) | May 19, 4:45 pm

Years after declaring her eternal virginity and opting to live life as a man in the mountains of Albania, Hana looks to return to living as a woman as she settles into a new existence in modern-day Milan. – Telescope Film

Director: Laura Bispuri

Cast: Alba Rohrwacher, Emily Ferratello, Lars Eidinger, Flonja Kodheli

Country: Italy, Switzerland, Germany

Distributor: Strand Releasing

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 27 minutes

Platform: Kanopy

I Am Not a Witch (2017) | May 19, 2:30 pm

When nine-year-old orphan Shula (Margaret Mulubwa) is accused of witchcraft, she is exiled to a witch camp run by a corrupt and inept government official. Tied to the ground and told that she will turn into a goat if she tries to escape, Shula becomes a star tourist attraction exploited by those around her for financial gain. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision: resign herself to life at the camp, or risk everything for freedom. – The Criterion Channel

Director: Rungano Nyoni

Cast: Maggie Mulubwa, Nellie Munamonga, Dyna Mufuni

Country: Zambia, United Kingdom

Distributor: Film Movement

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Events: Shorts Included

Shorts Included

Rungano Nyoni’s award-winning short film Listen, co-directed by Hamy Ramezan, is also available to view on The Criterion Channel by following the link below.

People’s Republic of Desire (2018) | May 19, 1:00 pm

In China’s popular live-streaming showrooms, three millennials – a karaoke singer, a migrant worker and a rags-to-riches comedian – seek fame, fortune and human connection. They quickly discover the same promises and perils online as in their real lives. – Telescope Film

Director: Hao Wu

Country: China

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Platform: Amazon Prime

Special Programming: Documentary Cinema

Special Events: Filmmaker Conversations

Filmmaker Conversations

The Big Knife (1955) | May 19, 11:00 am

Hollywood superstar Charlie Castle (Jack Palance) has it all, except for a way out. When he tries to leave show business, his tyrannical studio boss, Stanley Hoff (Steiger), blackmails him with a lethal, covered-up secret that could land him in jail. A loose-lipped starlet (Shelley Winters) also knows too much, and when she starts talking, Hoff plans murder. Now Charlie is more cornered than ever, on the brink of losing his wealth, his power, and his soul. – The Criterion Channel

Director: Robert Aldrich

Cast: Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Rod Steiger

Country: United States

Distributor: MGM Home Entertainment

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel (Not currently available on platform)

Special Programming: Classic Cinema

Wake in Fright (1971) | May 19, 12:00 am

When Australian teacher John Grant stops off in the rural town of Yabba, he quickly gets pulled into the dark world of strange, ultra-macho townies who spend their days binge drinking, gambling and hunting kangaroos. For the timid Grant, this starts out as a thrilling release of his id. But after he loses his shirt gambling, Grant struggles to escape the bad luck – or perhaps a conspiracy – that keeps preventing him from leaving Yabba. – Shudder

Director: Ted Kotcheff

Cast: Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay

Country: Australia, United States, United Kingdom

Distributor: Image Entertainment

Rating: R

Runtime: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Platform: Shudder

Special Programming: Midnight Movies, Classic Cinema

They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (2018) | May 18, 9:15 pm

Actors, crew members and others who were there discuss the tumultuous creation of Orson Welles’s final, unfinished film, The Other Side of the Wind. – Netflix

Director: Morgan Neville

Cast: Orson Welles, Alan Cumming, Peter Bogdanovich, Oja Kodar

Country: United States

Distributor: Netflix

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Platform: Netflix

Special Programming: Documentary Cinema, Classic Cinema

The Other Side of the Wind (2018) | May 18, 5:30 pm

Surrounded by fans and skeptics, grizzled director J.J. “Jake” Hannaford returns from years abroad in Europe to a changed Hollywood, where he attempts to make his innovative comeback film. – Telescope Film

Director: Orson Welles

Cast: John Huston, Oja Kodar, Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg

Country: France, Iran, United States

Distributor: Netflix

Rating: R

Runtime: 2 hours, 2 minutes

Platform: Netflix

Special Programming: Classic Cinema

Special Events: Filmmaker Conversations

Filmmaker Conversation

The short documentary A Final Cut for Orson can be accessed under the “Additional Videos” section for The Other Side of the Wind on Netflix.